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Let's see your Willie!

iramets Apr 27 2007 06:12 AM

To get away from what's perceived by some as my irrational all-purpose hatred for Willie Randolph, I'd like to suggest that we try to fill out one of Bill James' useful "[Manager X] in a Box" forms, wherein certain more-or-less objective questions about a particular manager's preferences and techniques are noted. If nothing else, we should be able to see where we disagree and where we agree. I was looking over James's Guide to Baseball Managers this week, and came across a passage about Leo Durocher that I thought applied perfectly to Willie: Were There any Unique or Idiosyncratic Strategies that He Particularly Favored? Durocher was famous for playing hunches. He sometimes did things that didn't seem to make sense, like putting a slow runner in motion, bunting when several runs behind, or using a light-hitting infielder as a pinch-hitter when there was a better hitting outfielder available. He would explain these moves by saying he just had a hunch. Partly of course it wasn't a hunch. The optimal strategy is never a predictable strategy. By doing the seemingly irrational, Durocher was doing the unexpected, which prevented the opposition from getting comfortable in the field This may seem wise to you, or not, and it may seem to apply to Willie's philosophy or not, but it certainly brings out one trait that Durocher had as a manager, whether you like it or like him or not. (I thought this was a good way to look at oddball managerial moves, though I detested Durocher's personality.) Anyway, we did this once before, maybe with Bobby, but that's since vanished into ether, and I'll re-type out the questions for you if there's interest in collaborating on some sort of group analysis of Willie's managerial tendencies. The larger categories covered, btw, are WHAT HE BROUGHT TO A BALL CLUB, HOW HE USED HIS PERSONNEL, GAME MANAGING AND USE OF STRATEGIES, and HANDLING THE PITCHING STAFF

iramets Apr 27 2007 06:57 AM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Apr 27 2007 02:28 PM

Let's start by filling out the easy, purely factual stuff WILLIE RANDOLPH IN A BOX Year of birth: 1954 Years managed: 2005-2007 Record as Manager: Managers for Whom He Played: Danny Murtaugh, Billy Martin, Dick Howser, Bob Lemon, Gene Michael, Clyde King, Lou Piniella, Yogi Berra, Tommy Lasorda, Tony LaRussa, Tom Trebelhorn, Jeff Torborg Others by Whom He Was Influenced: He coached for Buck Showalter and, for ages, for Joe Torre. Tell me if I'm wrong, but I expected Willie to rely on a veteran bench coach, like Don Zimmer, to compensate for his lack of in-game experience, but no such figure has emerged to my knowledge. Is this correct? Characteristics as a Player: Ability to get on base his primary offensive skill: Lifetime OBP about 100 points over lifetime BA, never hit more than 7 HRs per year. Usually batted first, sometimes second in order (presumably, the Yankees' getting Rickey mandated that switch.) Hit well in Yankee Stadium--overall an average or worse hitter vs. righthanded pitching but lifetime had a .100 advantage in OPS vs lefty pitchers. He seems to have an unusually hard time against righty powerpitchers: some of his worst lifetime stats are against the likes of Clemens, Seaver, Ryan, while lefty finesse guys (Scott McGregor, Mike Flanagan and Frank Viola) he hit like a gong. OE:Added stuff OE: added more stuff

Edgy DC Apr 27 2007 07:03 AM

Managers for Whom He Played: Danny Murtaugh, Billy Martin, Dick Howser, Bob Lemon, Billy Martin, Dick Howser, Gene Michael, Bob Lemon, Gene Michael, Clyde King, Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Billy Martin, Lou Piniella, Billy Marrtin, Lou Pinella, Tommy Lasorda, Tony LaRussa, Tom Trebelhorn, Jeff Torborg

Edgy DC Apr 27 2007 07:07 AM

His 11-year coaching career (ten?) was much more stable, working under only Buck Showalter and Joe Torre.

Kid Carsey Apr 27 2007 07:15 AM

He's a liar, defensive, deceptive, and inarticulate. Couldn't manage his way out of a wet paper bag with a sledge hammer.

iramets Apr 27 2007 07:18 AM

You're boring me, KC. I suspect you're boring other people as well. Why don't you take your crap to the RLF and let us discuss baseball here? Thank you for your cooperation.

Kid Carsey Apr 27 2007 07:22 AM

Frankly, I don't care if I'm boring you ... I'm adding my two cents. Have you not stated all of the above regarding our skipper? I'm re-stating them. It's amusing how I push a button and now after all this time you want to dem- onstrate that you can measure our Willie (get it) with well constructed thoughts not including words like moron, nincompoop, etc. Carry on, I don't want to bore the others.

iramets Apr 27 2007 07:23 AM

Edgy DC wrote: His 11-year coaching career (ten?) was much more stable, working under only Buck Showalter and Joe Torre. Certainly that belongs under "Others he was influenced by." Of course, influences are positive and negative. I think the largest managerial influence was Billy Martin, also a light-hitting leadoff-batting second baseman for the Yankees most of his career, who probably saw young WIllie in his image and tried to mold him more than he did others, but whether Willie viewed Billy as a role model or a demonic influence to be avoided at all costs remains to be discussed. At a first stab, I'd say he's much more a negative role model than a positive one for Willie, who seems to have modelled many of his public traits on avoiding Billy's problems, notably arguing with his players in the media.

Johnny Dickshot Apr 27 2007 07:24 AM

WHAT HE BROUGHT TO A BALL CLUB Took over a wounded franchise just as a new front office and new investment helped acquire the 2 best free agents on the market and inject some badly needed talent. Didn't panic when his team lost the first 5 games of his managing career straight, and steered it to 6 straight wins. Team has played hard for him ever since, with little evidence of disharmony and improved performances from a number of players. As African American managers go, closer to Frank Robinson than to Dusty Baker: Prefers tough love to tender encouragement. HOW HE USED HIS PERSONNEL Everyday of at all possible, in the same order. Cycles through candidates if necessary but tends to prefer regular tenants over shares. Tough on rookies. GAME MANAGING AND USE OF STRATEGIES Generally, lets them play. Very few fancy defensive tactics, hit-and-runs, squeeze plays, etc. When straegies are in place, they tend to be conventional, primarily the sacrifice bunt or styraight steal, which he encourages. Backed off the sac bunt some when possessed of more power hitters (06 v. 05). Uses defensive replacements particularly with a lead to protect. Likes to alternate lefties and righties in the lineup. Appears to prefer bat-on-the-ball hitters with defensive versatility over power on the bench.

iramets Apr 27 2007 07:31 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Apr 27 2007 07:49 AM

Are we going to be relying on our memories and impressions exclusively here, or is there any kind of database on Willie we can use? I'm wondering about any interviews he's given in which he spoke about how influenced by Billy Martin he was as a player and manager. I can't remember offhand much about Willie, though I've probably read a dozen books about the Yankees when he was a player--Reggie's several autobios, Catfish's, some books on Steinbrenner, even the THE WORST TEAM MONEY COULD BUY...Not much on him that I can recall, but maybe someone can? Just looked in CATFISH, who said that Wilie, though quiet, had a hair-trigger temper, and that he (and Nettles) took more groundballs than any infielders he'd ever seen. He also said that when WIllie was young he begged out of games on a wet field, fearing injury, but he (Catfish) took to teasing him about begging off and gradually insisted on playing under less than optimal conditions.

Edgy DC Apr 27 2007 07:33 AM

I think Willie takes a lot of Billy Martin, and leaves behind what he found to be distasteful. He certainly cited him as an influence when he took the job, though that may have been in part to distance himself from the "Torre Protégé" tag.

duan Apr 27 2007 07:38 AM

I think he's been pretty good with the pitching staff as a whole and the bullpen in particular, but how much of that goes down as credit to Peterson I don't know.

iramets Apr 27 2007 07:55 AM

The idea, Duan, I think, is that Willie gets the credit or the blame for the pitching staff, though various other factors (like Peterson, or Omar) can't be discounted. Under WHAT HE BROUGHT TO A BALLCLUB (some of which JD has anticipated), specific questions are: Was he an intense manager or more of an easy-to-get-along-with type? Was he an emotional manager or a decision maker? Was he more of an optimist or a problem solver?

iramets Apr 27 2007 08:07 AM

Was he an emotional manager or a decision maker? This one is the easiest. He's a decider. He doesn't seem to implore his players to play hard, or otherwise get under their skin, but he makes decisions and sticks with them

iramets Apr 27 2007 08:12 AM

="duan"]I think he's been pretty good with the pitching staff as a whole and the bullpen in particular, but how much of that goes down as credit to Peterson I don't know. Under HANDLING THE PITCHING STAFF, the specific questions are: Did he like power pitchers or people who put the ball into play? Did he stay with his starters or go to the bullpen quickly? Did he use a four-man rotation? (This one is badly out of date, and for or purposes needs to be changed, maybe to "How strictly did he stick to a regular rotation?") How long would he stay with a pitcher who was struggling? Was there anything unique about his handling of pitchers?

Benjamin Grimm Apr 27 2007 08:49 AM

2006 Managing Statistics From the Sporting News Baseball Register

Edgy DC Apr 27 2007 08:53 AM

We have the means for a very non-biased standard by which to judge managers. I have a sabbatical coming up soon.

iramets Apr 27 2007 09:03 AM

That's a lot of data for us to mine. Thanks, Yancy. If it's not too much trouble, could you (or anyone) post the same stats for 2005? The biggest problem in evaluating Willie's tendencies is the small amount of available hard data, so every bit helps. I wish they'd total the figures up, and average them out so we could see at a glance how Willie compares to the norm wthout doing a lot of tedious math.

Johnny Dickshot Apr 27 2007 09:07 AM

More sac bunts than the competition, and favorite inning = 2? Ouch.

metirish Apr 27 2007 09:17 AM

Those stats that Yancy posted are great,but they don't measure Willie's "gut feel" moves and tendencies.

Benjamin Grimm Apr 27 2007 09:31 AM

Johnny Dickshot wrote: More sac bunts than the competition, and favorite inning = 2? Ouch. That second inning thing caught my eye too. In the second inning you can never be sure whether you'll need one run to win the game or if you'll need 12 runs. Sacrificing that early doesn't seem like a great idea. I'd like to see a breakdown of Willie's second-inning bunts, though. Because if they occurred with the pitcher batting and runners on base then in that case I can excuse the sacrifice. The Mets did score a lot of first-inning runs, so they probably frequently had the number 9 slot come up in the second inning. I would think that pitchers would do most of their sacrificing early in the game. If it's late in the game, and you need that run, you'll probably use a pinch-hitter.

iramets Apr 27 2007 09:32 AM

What are the final two categories under Relievers? ist batter APP? 3 pit. <2 run?

Benjamin Grimm Apr 27 2007 09:32 AM

iramets wrote: That's a lot of data for us to mine. Thanks, Yancy. If it's not too much trouble, could you (or anyone) post the same stats for 2005? The biggest problem in evaluating Willie's tendencies is the small amount of available hard data, so every bit helps. Maybe I'll be able to do that a little later this afternoon.

Johnny Dickshot Apr 27 2007 09:34 AM

]I'd like to see a breakdown of Willie's second-inning bunts, though. Because if they occurred with the pitcher batting and runners on base then in that case I can excuse the sacrifice. The Mets did score a lot of first-inning runs, so they probably frequently had the number 9 slot come up in the second inning. I would think that pitchers would do most of their sacrificing early in the game. If it's late in the game, and you need that run, you'll probably use a pinch-hitter. I'd guess that too.

Benjamin Grimm Apr 27 2007 09:41 AM

="iramets"]What are the final two categories under Relievers? ist batter APP? 3 pit. <2 run? This is how The Sporting News explains them: ] 1-batter Appearances: The number of times a pitcher was brought in to face only one batter. Call the "Tony La Russa special" because of his penchant for trying to orchestrate specific matchups for specific situations. 3 Pitchers (2 runs or less): The clubs gives up two runs or less in a game but uses at least three pitchers. Interestingly, there are several managers who did the Tony La Russa special more often than La Russa himself did.

Johnny Dickshot Apr 27 2007 09:51 AM

OK, I looked through all games of April and May last year and found 7 instances of 2nd-inning sac bunts, all of them by pitchers. 4/7 Trax 4/22 Pedro 5/10 Glavine 5/19 J. Gonzalez 5/25 J Gonzalez 5/29 Trax 5/30 Soler Prettty sure it just continues like that, but oif someone wants to pick up in June BMG

Edgy DC Apr 27 2007 09:58 AM

Oh, "Be My Guest." My first guess was "Big Moose Genitals."

Johnny Dickshot Apr 27 2007 10:00 AM

I figured having clicked on 60 boxscores I'd already wasted enough time.

iramets Apr 27 2007 11:35 AM

The first thing to do with the stats chart, it seems to me, is to look for Willie as an outlier (as opposed to a just-regular liar). So some categories in which he presents extreme tendencies are: SB % leads the NL SB att. A close second Successful steals of 3B leads the league “% of steals attempted w 2 out” leads the league (All heavily Reyes-influenced, no doubt, except the last) Fewest starts in NL to pitchers going 120 or more pitches I'm surprised to see him as MOR as he is in squeezes: they have him down for 5, and the other day no one here could remember any 3rd lowest intentional BBs in NL 3rd lowest use of pinchhitters in NL worst PH BA in NL tied for fewest PH HR in NL fewest relievers facing onlyone batter in NL

iramets Apr 27 2007 11:53 AM

If you wanna see a similar exercise with Bobby Cox go [url=http://detectovision.com/?p=670] here[/url] Some ambitious person can also save me typing, and us time, by cutting and pasting the whole list of questions.

Benjamin Grimm Apr 27 2007 12:49 PM

2005 Managing Statistics From the Sporting News Baseball Register

iramets Apr 27 2007 02:22 PM

Thanks, Yancy. Now I’ll compare the two years in terms of the 12 categories he was a 2006 outlier: 2006///2005 1. SB % leads the NL//// a close second among FT NL managers 2. SB att. A close second//led NL 3. Successful steals of 3B leads the league//tremendous lead in NL 4. “% of steals attempted w 2 out” leads the league//among the LOWEST in NL So in the four stolen base categories, Willie was consistent from 2005 to 2006 except for steal attempts at 3b—low in 2005, high in 2006. Anyone understand why that happened? 5. Fewest starts in NL to pitchers going 120 or more P ///higher half of NL mgrs. 6. I'm surprised to see him as MOR as he is in squeezes: they have him down for 5, and the other day no one here could remember any ///again, 5 squeezes. Not the low, but the lower half. 7. 3rd lowest intentional BBs in NL ///6th lowest 8. 3rd lowest use of pinchhitters in NL /// lowest in NL 9. worst PH BA in NL /// Best PH BA in NL (!) 10. tied for fewest PH HR in NL ///4th highest PH HR in NL 11. fewest relievers facing only one batter in NL///middle of the pack And to finish out the dirty dozen with the peculiarity JD noted: 12 In 2005, Willie tied with LaGenius for the earliest favorite ining for a sac bunt, the 2nd inning. So the only strong tendency that apply in both seasons are three SB categories (SB %, SB att, and successful steals of 3B, all which can be attributed to Reyes being on the roster, and not necessarily to Randolphian preferences alone.), a pronounced but not extreme distaste for intentional BBs and frequent PHers, and a hot-and-heavy love affair with the early sac bunt by pitchers. I’m sure I’m not complete, and that others may mine more data from these two charts.

metirish Apr 27 2007 02:24 PM

Not being a smart arse here but what will this tell us about Willie,all this information .

iramets Apr 27 2007 02:34 PM

metirish wrote: Not being a smart arse here but what will this tell us about Willie,all this information . Not sure, but I was getting awful tired of calling him names. First you compile the data, then you see if it says anything. Found another trait in both seasons: mid-inning pitching changes, near the bottom of NL both years. Doesn't like to switch pitchers in mid-inning.

Benjamin Grimm Apr 27 2007 02:42 PM

I noticed that too, about the mid-inning pitcher changes. (Not from the charts, but from watching the games.) It seems that starting pitchers seldom walk off the mound before the inning is over. I had been thinking that it was a nod to the experience of guys like Glavine, Hernandez, and Pedro. And maybe it is. I bet if we look at those guys innings pitched per game we'll see a lot of .0's and not many .1's and .2's. (That quicky method would miss, of course, any games where the pitcher was pulled during an inning before he got an out.)

Rotblatt Apr 27 2007 02:44 PM

Interesting stuff! One thing some of the statistically inclined peeps do is try to see if there's a consistent bias above or below pythogorean projections--some of them point to that as evidence of managerial competence/incompetence. With Willie, he doesn't have enough years under his belt for anything meaningful, but . . . 2006: +6 Wins 2005: -6 Wins Not really very helpful in this instance (although it is pleasingly symmetrical), but it's something to keep in mind in the years ahead. In general, it's insanely difficult to objectively judge managers, and I'm curious to see where this goes!

iramets Apr 27 2007 02:50 PM

As to the sac bunt, Willie ordered 17 more in 2006 than in 2005, with a better lineup. He's had good success % both years with the sac bunt

Johnny Dickshot Apr 27 2007 03:38 PM

Could that be explained by better OBP?

Gwreck Apr 27 2007 04:47 PM

="iramets"]Was he an emotional manager or a decision maker? He doesn't seem to implore his players to play hard, or otherwise get under their skin, but he makes decisions and sticks with them What's the supporting data for the first assertion? How do you measure if someone "seems" to implore his players to play hard or not?

iramets Apr 27 2007 04:55 PM

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Could that be explained by better OBP? Mebbe. Let's think this through. If you've got fewer runners on base, sure you've got fewer opportunities to bunt a man over. But doesn't that also mean that each baserunner represents a rare chance for a run, discouraging you from trusting that the next three or four guys will string together hits and make bunting a waste of an at-bat? if you're playing for one run, doesn't that mean more or less that you'll be bunting any chance you get? If you've got a strong hitting lineup, top to bottom, doesn't that dictate you're LESS in need of bunts because the next batter is capable of getting a hit or a HR? Isn't it considered counter-intuitive to bunt with a strong offensive team? Isnt a strong offense largely one with a good OBP?

iramets Apr 27 2007 05:00 PM

="Gwreck"] ="iramets"]Was he an emotional manager or a decision maker? He doesn't seem to implore his players to play hard, or otherwise get under their skin, but he makes decisions and sticks with them What's the supporting data for the first assertion? How do you measure if someone "seems" to implore his players to play hard or not? Maybe that's a bad question, because I don't know how you'd know for sure. Guys like Lasorda and Piniella and Billy Martin gave a strong impression that they injected all sorts of emotion in their clubhouse, but maybe it was a front and they were calm, softspoken gentlemen behind closed doors, and Gil Hodges and Joe Torre might turn into fist-pumping, screaming maniacs once the reporters cleared out of the room. Do you want to make the case that Willie's all intense and emotional and high-drama?

Willets Point Apr 27 2007 05:18 PM

iramets wrote: Maybe that's a bad question, There are no bad questions, just misunderstood questions.

Kid Carsey Apr 27 2007 05:23 PM

ira: >>>Was he an emotional manager or a decision maker?<<< I think this question could be changed to include "or both". Sure, many leaders tend to go to one extreme, but I think a good leader over the course of a long period of time should be able to run the whole spectrum with success. One of the qualities that I see in Willie that can't be measured with pages and pages of stats and figures is that he can be seen fist pumping and fist bumping with players but there's also no question that he's a stubborn decisive sort and that it's his way or the highway as well.

iramets Apr 27 2007 06:23 PM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Apr 28 2007 07:59 AM

Okay, here's the whole Jamesian schmear (I'll c-n-p what I've already compiled as we go along). If you'd care to answer a question so far untouched, I'll c-n-p your answer into this chart: If I've said something with which you disagree, I'll try to hammer out some common ground. The important thing isn’t what I think of Willie, but what the truth is about Willie, as best as we can tell. Some things I’m sure I’m wrong about, but I will tolerate correction surprisingly well. Year of Birth: 1954 Years Managed: 2005-7 Record as a Manager: Managers for Whom He Played: Danny Murtaugh, Billy Martin, Dick Howser, Bob Lemon, Billy Martin, Dick Howser, Gene Michael, Bob Lemon, Gene Michael, Clyde King, Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Billy Martin, Lou Piniella, Billy Marrtin, Lou Pinella, Tommy Lasorda, Tony LaRussa, Tom Trebelhorn, Jeff Torborg Others by Whom He Was Influenced: He coached for Buck Showalter and, for ages, for Joe Torre. [Tell me if I'm wrong, but I expected Willie to rely on a veteran bench coach, like Don Zimmer, to compensate for his lack of in-game experience, but no such figure has emerged to my knowledge. Is this correct? ] He cited Billy Martin "as an influence when he took the job, though that may have been in part to distance himself from the 'Torre Protégé' tag." Characteristics as a Player: Ability to get on base his primary offensive skill: Lifetime OBP about 100 points over lifetime BA, never hit more than 7 HRs per year. Usually batted first, sometimes second in order (presumably, the Yankees' getting Rickey mandated that switch.) Hit well in Yankee Stadium--overall an average or worse hitter vs. righthanded pitching but lifetime had a .100 advantage in OPS vs lefty pitchers. He seems to have an unusually hard time against righty powerpitchers: some of his worst lifetime stats are against the likes of Clemens, Seaver, Ryan, while lefty finesse guys (Scott McGregor, Mike Flanagan and Frank Viola) he hit like a gong. . WHAT HE BROUGHT TO A BALL CLUB Was He an Intense Manager or More of an Easy-to-Get-Along-With Type? "As African American managers go, closer to Frank Robinson than to Dusty Baker: Prefers tough love to tender encouragement." Was he an emotional manager or a decision maker? This one is the easiest. He's a decider. He doesn't seem to implore his players to play hard, or otherwise get under their skin, but he makes decisions and sticks with them Was He More of an Optimist or More of a Problem Solver? Optimistically, he’s never seemed to consider replacing players enduring awful batting slumps (like Carlos Beltran in 2005) , and even kept guys like Mientkiwicz and Matsui in the lineup for weeks or months despite having no track record of being strong hitters. HOW HE USED HIS PERSONNEL Did He Favor a Set Lineup or a Rotation System? Regular lineup Did He Like to Platoon? No. No use for it at all. Did He Try to Solve His Problems with Proven Players or with Youngsters Who Still May Have Had Something to Learn? Having inherited a veteran-heavy staff (Pedro, Glavine, Traschel, Benson), he’s fit veteran pitchers into his rotation plans, as Orlando Hernandez and Jose Lima have cracked the rotation, but he’s also fit such young high-risk starters as John Maine, Mike Pelfrey, Jae Seo, Alay Soler, Brian Bannnister and Oliver Perez to take regular (if clearly probationary) spots at the end of the rotation. His bullpen has been dominated by veterans (Looper, Wagner, Roberto Hernandez, Mota, Darren Oliver, Scott Schoenweis, Chad Bradford) with a sprinkling of younger guys like Heilman and Sanchez. In the regular lineup, he’s gone with vets, or the young players he inherited.. How Many Players Did He Make Regulars Who Had Not Been Regulars Before, and Who Were They? He gave Victor Diaz a shot at RF in 2005, and Anderson Hernandez a shot at 2b in 2006, but neither took. Other than that, no one, really. Did He Prefer to Go with Good Offensive Players or Did He Like the Glove Men? . He tolerates Shawn Green’s leaden glove and tinfoil arm in right to get his bat in the lineup, and similar tradeoffs have occurred with Moises Alou in left, and Victor Diaz generally. Delgado, Franco, Mike Jacobs, Brian Daubach and Green have been his firstbasemen, all of them better hitters than fielders. (Slick-fielding first baseman and Unhappy Camper Doug Mientkewicz played his way first lower in the batting order, then onto the DL, out of the lineup and off the team in 2005.) Willie presumably gave his okay to trading Mike Cameron for X-Man Nady, which is clearly a D-for-O type trade. He kept Mike Piazza in the lineup (not that he had a lot of options) when his fielding went from bad to worse in 2005. Did He Like an Offense Based on Power, Speed, or High Averages? Did He Use the Entire Roster or Did He Keep People Sitting on the Bench? He’s resisted expanding the roles of bench players like Endy Chavez and Ramon Castro, preferring to keep them cooling on the bench to getting a real shot at a starting job. . Did He Build His Bench around Young Players Who Could Step into the Breach If Need Be, or Around Veteran Role-Players Who Had Their Own Functions Within a Game? Julio Franco, Endy Chavez, Ramon Castro, Chris Woodward, Marlon Anderson, Gerald Williams all know the feel of splinters in their butts. Very few kiddies sit on Willie’s bench—Milledge for a few weeks at the start of 2007, but he soon went down to NO where he could play regularly. . GAME MANAGING AND USE OF STRATEGIES Did He Go for the Big-Inning Offense, or Did He Like to Use the One-Run Strategies? They don’t call him “Wee Willie Small Balls” for nothing . (He pays them a small retainer to do so.) Bunts often, bunts early, likes to move runners along, keeps out of the DP, sends runners (mainly Reyes) a lot. Did He Pinch-Hit Much, and If So, When? Rarely. He likes to double-switch, but sometimes do it for no real purpose, just because it wasn’t against the rules. Pinch-running is even more severe--in 2005-6, he ranked dead last in pinchrunners employed, despite such hopeless baserunners as Piazza, Lo Duca, Delgado, Alou, Green, with Endy Chavez and Marlon Anderson available to pinch-run much of the time. Was There Anything Unusual About His Lineup Selection? He doesn’t make big changes easily. He used Jose Reyes for a long time while his OBP was painfully low, and kept him in the leadoff spot amid complaints that he hadn’t shown that was where he belonged.—eventually, Reyes justified Willie’s faith in him. He also inserted Paul LoDuca in the #2 hole despite a lack of foot speed and a history of so-so offense, because LoDuca was a decent contact hitter. He kept 36 year old Mike Piazza in the middle of the batting order through mid-July in 2005 despite a brutal year; likewise he kept David Wright out of the middle of the order until mid-July, despite strong offensive numbers. Did He Use the Sac Bunt Often? God, yes. Did He Like to Use the Running Game? When you’ve got a Jose Reyes, you’d better In What Circumstances Would He Issue an Intentional Walk? When he absolutely had to. Did He Hit and Run Very Often? .Slightly above average, with below average success. How Did He Change the Game? . HANDLING THE PITCHING STAFF Did He Like Power Pitchers, or Did He Prefer to Go with the People Who Put the Ball in Play? He's inherited a starting rotation (Glavine, Trachsel) of finesse pitchers (Pedro gets good K numbers, though his classification as a power pitcher now is questionable) but has gone to younger power types (Maine, Perez). In both of Willie's seasons, the Mets have had K totals above league average. Did He Stay with His Starters, or Go to the Bullpen Quickly? Did He Use a Four-Man Rotation? Did He Use the Entire Staff, or Did He Try to Get Five or Six People to Do Most of the Work? How Long Would He Stay with a Starting Pitcher Who Was Struggling? Was There Anything Unique About His Handling of His Pitchers? What Was His Strongest Point As a Manager? If There Were No Professional Baseball, What Would He Have Done with His Life?

Kid Carsey Apr 27 2007 06:33 PM

I guess I don't get why being emotional and decisive are choices and can't be combined. I'm decisive and emotional, the two things aren't opposites. You're either indecisive or decisive. Emotional or unemotional. Someone can certainly be emotionally decisive or whatever. No biggie. Good thread so far.

Gwreck Apr 27 2007 09:30 PM

="iramets"] ="Gwreck"] ="iramets"]Was he an emotional manager or a decision maker? He doesn't seem to implore his players to play hard, or otherwise get under their skin, but he makes decisions and sticks with them What's the supporting data for the first assertion? How do you measure if someone "seems" to implore his players to play hard or not? Maybe that's a bad question, because I don't know how you'd know for sure. Guys like Lasorda and Piniella and Billy Martin gave a strong impression that they injected all sorts of emotion in their clubhouse, but maybe it was a front and they were calm, softspoken gentlemen behind closed doors, and Gil Hodges and Joe Torre might turn into fist-pumping, screaming maniacs once the reporters cleared out of the room. Do you want to make the case that Willie's all intense and emotional and high-drama? No. Do you want to answer my "bad" question? You put the weasel words into your statement. "Doesn't seem to implore his players to play hard." How do you know that? Emotional and high drama might be one way to "implore" your players to play hard, but I doubt it's the only one. I actually believe that Willie indeed DOES implore his players to play hard for him. I'm not sure how I can prove it, other perhaps third-hand sources. How do you know what you asserted? P.S. If all you want to say is that he doesn't act like Lou Pinella or Larry Bowa in the dugout, no problem -- the text just needs an edit or two.

iramets Apr 28 2007 04:24 AM

Gwreck wrote: [ Do you want to answer my "bad" question? I didn't mean YOU had asked a bad question, I meant I had (or Bill James had). I'd just as soon ditch all of the subjective questions under WHAT HE BROUGHT TO A BALL CLUB (Was He an Intense Manager or More of an Easy-to-Get-Along-With Type? Was he an emotional manager or a decision maker? Was He More of an Optimist or More of a Problem Solver?) because we can't really know these answers, just kinda sense them. Certainly we can't answer them in the same way we can answer "Does he like to sacrifice bunt?" I'm particularly reluctant to answer subjective-type questions because I'd like this thread to be as objective as possible. No "How does he treat the media?", no "Does he seem intelligent?", No "What do you think of his moral character?" for me, thank you, as I've indulged way too much in those areas in which I have only my subjective impressions, and to which this thread is meant to be a corrective. Frankly, if you want to throw them out, that's fine with me, and if you want to supply your own response, I'll put that in there. As it is, I'm using JD's response ("As African American managers go, closer to Frank Robinson than to Dusty Baker: Prefers tough love to tender encouragement.") in place of my own on the "intense or easy?" question, even though I'm not sure where he gets that impression from. Also, and this is a response to KC's point as well, I think several of these questions are designed to avoid an answer of "Well, both" where possible (it's not always possible, and James gives a few "Well, both" answers himself) because EVERY question gets a "Well, both" answer if you search hard enough. Even "Does Willie like to sacrifice bunt?" gets a "Yes and No" answer, if you want to be technical. He might lead the league in sac bunts every year, but does he LIKE it? No, he'd probably prefer to have Babe Ruth batting in slots 1-8. Does he sac-bunt as much as the manager of 1906 Chicago White Sox did? No, but probably the least bunting-team of 1906 bunted more than the -most-bunting team of 2006. So we ought to try to give a definitive answer (and explain the thinking behind the answer).

iramets Apr 28 2007 08:29 AM

The question about how deep does he take his starter into games seems to be one that's answered easily with available stats, but I can't find any IP/start stuff anywhere. Where should I look? Some provisional data: two figures that seem to be climbing are team age (28.8 in 2005, 30.1 in 2006, and 32 so far this year) and % of sac bunts by pitcher (about 50/50 in 2005, more in 2006, so far this year 7 out of 9 sac bunts by pitchers). The team age thing suggests Willie likes veterans. The more control he has over the roster, the older it gets? Maybe.

Benjamin Grimm Apr 28 2007 09:16 AM

Here's some really raw data, but it can be pasted into a spreadsheet if you like. First, for each year, number of innings pitched by Mets starters by number of games. For example, in 1962 the Mets starter went 2.1 innings three times. (Scroll down for a second list which will have similar counts for opposing starters in Mets games. Post-season games are included.) Mets Pitchers year ip count(*) 1962 0.0 3 1962 0.1 2 1962 0.2 3 1962 1.0 4 1962 1.2 2 1962 2.0 2 1962 2.1 3 1962 2.2 3 1962 3.0 9 1962 3.1 4 1962 3.2 1 1962 4.0 5 1962 4.1 5 1962 4.2 1 1962 5.0 10 1962 5.1 8 1962 6.0 15 1962 6.1 2 1962 6.2 3 1962 7.0 19 1962 7.1 3 1962 8.0 17 1962 8.1 4 1962 8.2 1 1962 9.0 26 1962 9.1 2 1962 9.2 1 1962 10.0 2 1962 15.0 1 1963 0.0 1 1963 0.1 1 1963 0.2 4 1963 1.0 1 1963 1.1 1 1963 1.2 6 1963 2.0 3 1963 2.1 3 1963 2.2 4 1963 3.0 5 1963 3.1 3 1963 3.2 3 1963 4.0 3 1963 4.1 3 1963 4.2 5 1963 5.0 7 1963 5.1 2 1963 5.2 2 1963 6.0 10 1963 6.1 1 1963 6.2 4 1963 7.0 24 1963 7.2 3 1963 8.0 19 1963 8.1 4 1963 8.2 3 1963 9.0 35 1963 10.0 1 1963 11.0 1 1964 0.1 3 1964 0.2 1 1964 1.0 1 1964 1.1 1 1964 1.2 2 1964 2.0 3 1964 2.1 3 1964 2.2 3 1964 3.0 4 1964 3.1 3 1964 3.2 3 1964 4.0 9 1964 4.1 5 1964 4.2 2 1964 5.0 11 1964 5.1 1 1964 5.2 4 1964 6.0 16 1964 6.1 5 1964 6.2 6 1964 7.0 21 1964 7.1 5 1964 7.2 3 1964 8.0 12 1964 8.1 3 1964 9.0 31 1964 9.1 1 1964 10.1 1 1965 0.0 1 1965 0.1 3 1965 0.2 2 1965 1.0 2 1965 1.1 2 1965 1.2 1 1965 2.0 1 1965 2.1 6 1965 2.2 1 1965 3.0 6 1965 3.1 1 1965 3.2 5 1965 4.0 11 1965 4.1 3 1965 4.2 8 1965 5.0 10 1965 5.1 5 1965 5.2 4 1965 6.0 14 1965 6.1 1 1965 6.2 4 1965 7.0 19 1965 7.1 3 1965 7.2 3 1965 8.0 14 1965 8.1 4 1965 8.2 2 1965 9.0 23 1965 10.0 2 1965 11.0 1 1965 13.0 1 1965 15.0 1 1966 0.0 1 1966 0.1 1 1966 0.2 1 1966 1.0 3 1966 1.1 2 1966 1.2 1 1966 2.0 4 1966 2.1 4 1966 2.2 2 1966 3.0 6 1966 3.1 4 1966 3.2 1 1966 4.0 7 1966 4.1 9 1966 4.2 6 1966 5.0 11 1966 5.1 7 1966 5.2 4 1966 6.0 9 1966 6.1 6 1966 6.2 7 1966 7.0 16 1966 7.1 4 1966 7.2 1 1966 8.0 4 1966 8.2 1 1966 9.0 37 1966 10.0 2 1967 0.1 1 1967 0.2 2 1967 1.0 2 1967 1.1 3 1967 1.2 2 1967 2.0 4 1967 2.1 5 1967 2.2 5 1967 3.0 7 1967 3.1 3 1967 3.2 3 1967 4.0 5 1967 4.1 3 1967 4.2 3 1967 5.0 15 1967 5.1 3 1967 5.2 3 1967 6.0 11 1967 6.1 4 1967 6.2 6 1967 7.0 14 1967 7.1 3 1967 7.2 5 1967 8.0 11 1967 8.1 3 1967 8.2 1 1967 9.0 30 1967 9.2 1 1967 10.0 1 1967 11.0 2 1967 11.2 1 1968 0.2 1 1968 1.1 1 1968 2.0 3 1968 2.1 2 1968 3.0 1 1968 3.1 1 1968 3.2 3 1968 4.0 4 1968 4.1 1 1968 4.2 3 1968 5.0 6 1968 5.1 5 1968 5.2 1 1968 6.0 11 1968 6.1 6 1968 6.2 6 1968 7.0 28 1968 7.1 7 1968 7.2 6 1968 8.0 13 1968 8.1 4 1968 8.2 4 1968 9.0 39 1968 10.0 5 1968 11.0 1 1968 12.0 1 1969 0.1 2 1969 0.2 1 1969 1.0 2 1969 1.2 3 1969 2.0 3 1969 2.1 3 1969 2.2 2 1969 3.0 4 1969 3.1 4 1969 4.0 3 1969 4.1 2 1969 4.2 4 1969 5.0 9 1969 5.1 1 1969 5.2 2 1969 6.0 12 1969 6.1 3 1969 6.2 1 1969 7.0 24 1969 7.1 4 1969 7.2 4 1969 8.0 13 1969 8.1 4 1969 8.2 3 1969 9.0 53 1969 10.0 3 1969 11.0 1 1970 0.1 1 1970 1.0 1 1970 1.1 2 1970 2.0 1 1970 3.0 2 1970 3.1 3 1970 3.2 2 1970 4.0 11 1970 4.1 4 1970 4.2 1 1970 5.0 6 1970 5.1 1 1970 5.2 4 1970 6.0 14 1970 6.1 1 1970 7.0 30 1970 7.1 3 1970 7.2 2 1970 8.0 21 1970 8.1 1 1970 8.2 4 1970 9.0 45 1970 9.2 2 1971 0.0 2 1971 0.1 1 1971 0.2 1 1971 1.0 1 1971 1.1 2 1971 1.2 4 1971 2.0 3 1971 2.1 3 1971 2.2 1 1971 3.0 2 1971 3.2 2 1971 4.0 5 1971 4.1 3 1971 4.2 6 1971 5.0 7 1971 5.1 3 1971 5.2 2 1971 6.0 9 1971 6.1 3 1971 6.2 9 1971 7.0 18 1971 7.1 5 1971 7.2 3 1971 8.0 17 1971 8.1 2 1971 8.2 3 1971 9.0 40 1971 9.2 1 1971 10.0 4 1972 0.2 2 1972 1.0 1 1972 2.0 4 1972 2.1 3 1972 2.2 2 1972 3.0 1 1972 3.1 2 1972 3.2 4 1972 4.0 5 1972 4.2 1 1972 5.0 9 1972 5.1 3 1972 6.0 22 1972 6.1 3 1972 6.2 4 1972 7.0 28 1972 7.1 6 1972 7.2 2 1972 8.0 10 1972 8.1 5 1972 8.2 4 1972 9.0 33 1972 10.0 2 1973 0.1 1 1973 0.2 2 1973 1.1 2 1973 2.0 2 1973 2.1 2 1973 2.2 1 1973 3.0 3 1973 3.2 2 1973 4.0 4 1973 4.1 2 1973 4.2 1 1973 5.0 9 1973 5.1 1 1973 5.2 5 1973 6.0 19 1973 6.1 3 1973 6.2 9 1973 7.0 27 1973 7.1 3 1973 7.2 5 1973 8.0 16 1973 8.1 2 1973 8.2 4 1973 9.0 44 1973 9.1 1 1973 10.0 1 1973 11.0 1 1973 12.0 1 1974 1.0 1 1974 1.1 1 1974 1.2 4 1974 2.0 2 1974 2.2 2 1974 3.1 2 1974 3.2 2 1974 4.0 4 1974 4.1 2 1974 4.2 3 1974 5.0 13 1974 5.1 1 1974 5.2 4 1974 6.0 15 1974 6.1 4 1974 6.2 2 1974 7.0 23 1974 7.1 5 1974 7.2 3 1974 8.0 16 1974 8.1 4 1974 8.2 4 1974 9.0 42 1974 10.0 1 1974 10.2 1 1974 12.0 1 1975 0.0 1 1975 0.2 1 1975 1.1 4 1975 1.2 3 1975 2.0 1 1975 2.1 3 1975 2.2 2 1975 3.0 2 1975 3.1 2 1975 3.2 3 1975 4.0 5 1975 4.1 3 1975 4.2 4 1975 5.0 9 1975 5.1 2 1975 5.2 3 1975 6.0 18 1975 6.1 2 1975 6.2 2 1975 7.0 18 1975 7.1 5 1975 7.2 4 1975 8.0 17 1975 8.1 3 1975 8.2 2 1975 9.0 38 1975 10.0 4 1975 11.0 1 1976 1.2 1 1976 2.0 2 1976 3.0 5 1976 3.1 2 1976 3.2 2 1976 4.0 5 1976 4.2 5 1976 5.0 7 1976 5.2 4 1976 6.0 17 1976 6.1 7 1976 6.2 2 1976 7.0 25 1976 7.1 4 1976 7.2 2 1976 8.0 12 1976 8.1 2 1976 8.2 5 1976 9.0 50 1976 9.2 1 1976 10.0 2 1977 0.0 1 1977 1.0 2 1977 2.0 1 1977 2.1 1 1977 2.2 1 1977 3.0 2 1977 3.1 3 1977 3.2 1 1977 4.0 5 1977 4.1 7 1977 4.2 1 1977 5.0 11 1977 5.1 5 1977 5.2 5 1977 6.0 26 1977 6.1 6 1977 6.2 4 1977 7.0 26 1977 7.1 8 1977 7.2 8 1977 8.0 9 1977 8.1 1 1977 8.2 1 1977 9.0 27 1978 0.1 1 1978 1.2 1 1978 2.0 5 1978 2.2 1 1978 3.0 5 1978 3.2 3 1978 4.0 5 1978 4.1 4 1978 4.2 2 1978 5.0 11 1978 5.1 6 1978 5.2 3 1978 6.0 27 1978 6.1 6 1978 6.2 3 1978 7.0 33 1978 7.1 4 1978 7.2 3 1978 8.0 8 1978 8.1 4 1978 8.2 2 1978 9.0 21 1978 9.1 1 1978 9.2 1 1978 10.0 1 1978 11.0 1 1979 0.1 3 1979 0.2 1 1979 1.0 1 1979 1.2 1 1979 2.0 3 1979 2.1 1 1979 2.2 4 1979 3.0 4 1979 3.1 3 1979 3.2 2 1979 4.0 10 1979 4.1 4 1979 4.2 1 1979 5.0 16 1979 5.1 5 1979 5.2 6 1979 6.0 30 1979 6.1 3 1979 6.2 7 1979 7.0 16 1979 7.1 6 1979 7.2 3 1979 8.0 11 1979 8.1 5 1979 8.2 1 1979 9.0 15 1979 10.0 1 1980 0.1 1 1980 1.1 2 1980 1.2 2 1980 2.0 9 1980 2.1 2 1980 2.2 2 1980 3.0 6 1980 3.1 3 1980 3.2 4 1980 4.0 14 1980 4.1 3 1980 4.2 10 1980 5.0 18 1980 5.1 4 1980 5.2 2 1980 6.0 25 1980 6.1 3 1980 6.2 2 1980 7.0 15 1980 7.1 5 1980 7.2 2 1980 8.0 7 1980 8.1 1 1980 8.2 3 1980 9.0 16 1980 10.0 1 1981 0.0 1 1981 1.0 2 1981 1.1 1 1981 1.2 4 1981 2.0 4 1981 2.1 1 1981 2.2 2 1981 3.0 2 1981 3.1 3 1981 3.2 4 1981 4.0 8 1981 4.1 1 1981 4.2 4 1981 5.0 10 1981 5.1 4 1981 5.2 5 1981 6.0 12 1981 6.1 4 1981 6.2 1 1981 7.0 16 1981 7.1 2 1981 7.2 3 1981 8.0 3 1981 8.2 1 1981 9.0 7 1982 0.0 2 1982 0.1 1 1982 0.2 1 1982 1.0 1 1982 1.1 2 1982 1.2 1 1982 2.0 2 1982 2.1 5 1982 2.2 2 1982 3.0 2 1982 3.1 3 1982 3.2 3 1982 4.0 11 1982 4.1 2 1982 4.2 1 1982 5.0 15 1982 5.1 3 1982 5.2 2 1982 6.0 24 1982 6.1 6 1982 6.2 7 1982 7.0 21 1982 7.1 3 1982 7.2 6 1982 8.0 13 1982 8.1 5 1982 8.2 1 1982 9.0 15 1982 10.0 2 1983 0.0 1 1983 0.1 1 1983 0.2 3 1983 1.0 2 1983 1.1 3 1983 1.2 3 1983 2.1 1 1983 2.2 1 1983 3.0 3 1983 3.1 1 1983 4.0 6 1983 4.1 2 1983 4.2 6 1983 5.0 15 1983 5.1 5 1983 5.2 6 1983 6.0 23 1983 6.1 9 1983 6.2 4 1983 7.0 26 1983 7.1 2 1983 7.2 1 1983 8.0 17 1983 8.1 3 1983 8.2 1 1983 9.0 15 1983 10.0 1 1983 11.0 1 1984 0.2 1 1984 1.0 1 1984 1.1 3 1984 2.0 1 1984 2.1 2 1984 2.2 2 1984 3.0 5 1984 3.1 2 1984 3.2 2 1984 4.0 8 1984 4.2 3 1984 5.0 20 1984 5.1 1 1984 5.2 5 1984 6.0 28 1984 6.1 5 1984 6.2 5 1984 7.0 28 1984 7.1 1 1984 7.2 6 1984 8.0 17 1984 8.1 1 1984 8.2 1 1984 9.0 14 1985 0.1 1 1985 2.0 3 1985 2.1 1 1985 3.0 1 1985 3.2 3 1985 4.0 3 1985 4.1 3 1985 4.2 3 1985 5.0 18 1985 5.1 3 1985 5.2 1 1985 6.0 28 1985 6.1 3 1985 6.2 4 1985 7.0 24 1985 7.1 6 1985 7.2 1 1985 8.0 18 1985 8.1 1 1985 8.2 1 1985 9.0 36 1986 1.1 1 1986 2.1 1 1986 2.2 1 1986 3.0 1 1986 3.1 2 1986 3.2 2 1986 4.0 6 1986 4.1 3 1986 4.2 2 1986 5.0 21 1986 5.1 4 1986 5.2 1 1986 6.0 28 1986 6.1 4 1986 6.2 5 1986 7.0 34 1986 7.1 1 1986 7.2 2 1986 8.0 20 1986 8.1 1 1986 8.2 1 1986 9.0 33 1986 10.0 1 1987 0.0 1 1987 1.0 1 1987 1.1 1 1987 2.0 2 1987 2.1 2 1987 2.2 1 1987 3.0 5 1987 3.1 3 1987 3.2 2 1987 4.0 9 1987 4.2 2 1987 5.0 19 1987 5.1 3 1987 5.2 2 1987 6.0 30 1987 6.1 8 1987 6.2 9 1987 7.0 18 1987 7.1 4 1987 7.2 3 1987 8.0 18 1987 8.2 2 1987 9.0 17 1988 0.1 1 1988 0.2 1 1988 1.0 2 1988 2.0 1 1988 3.0 4 1988 3.1 1 1988 3.2 2 1988 4.0 5 1988 4.1 2 1988 4.2 2 1988 5.0 12 1988 5.1 2 1988 6.0 19 1988 6.1 6 1988 6.2 7 1988 7.0 37 1988 7.1 3 1988 7.2 3 1988 8.0 15 1988 8.1 6 1988 8.2 2 1988 9.0 31 1988 9.1 1 1988 10.0 2 1989 0.2 1 1989 2.0 5 1989 2.1 1 1989 2.2 6 1989 3.0 3 1989 4.0 6 1989 4.1 1 1989 4.2 2 1989 5.0 16 1989 5.1 1 1989 5.2 3 1989 6.0 19 1989 6.1 3 1989 6.2 7 1989 7.0 27 1989 7.1 8 1989 7.2 6 1989 8.0 20 1989 8.1 2 1989 8.2 2 1989 9.0 23 1990 1.1 2 1990 1.2 1 1990 2.0 1 1990 3.0 3 1990 3.1 4 1990 3.2 1 1990 4.0 5 1990 4.1 1 1990 4.2 2 1990 5.0 17 1990 5.1 3 1990 5.2 1 1990 6.0 30 1990 6.1 6 1990 6.2 2 1990 7.0 27 1990 7.1 8 1990 7.2 9 1990 8.0 19 1990 8.1 2 1990 8.2 2 1990 9.0 16 1991 1.2 2 1991 2.0 3 1991 2.1 1 1991 3.0 2 1991 3.2 2 1991 4.0 7 1991 4.1 6 1991 4.2 1 1991 5.0 17 1991 5.1 2 1991 5.2 1 1991 6.0 30 1991 6.1 9 1991 6.2 4 1991 7.0 35 1991 7.1 1 1991 7.2 1 1991 8.0 22 1991 8.1 2 1991 8.2 2 1991 9.0 11 1992 0.2 1 1992 1.2 1 1992 2.0 1 1992 2.1 4 1992 3.0 2 1992 3.1 1 1992 3.2 4 1992 4.0 5 1992 4.2 7 1992 5.0 8 1992 5.1 6 1992 5.2 9 1992 6.0 27 1992 6.1 5 1992 6.2 5 1992 7.0 30 1992 7.1 3 1992 7.2 3 1992 8.0 23 1992 8.1 1 1992 9.0 16 1993 0.1 1 1993 2.0 1 1993 2.1 1 1993 3.0 3 1993 3.2 3 1993 4.0 6 1993 4.1 5 1993 4.2 1 1993 5.0 18 1993 5.1 1 1993 5.2 1 1993 6.0 23 1993 6.1 5 1993 6.2 3 1993 7.0 32 1993 7.1 5 1993 7.2 3 1993 8.0 36 1993 9.0 13 1993 10.0 1 1994 1.1 1 1994 2.1 1 1994 2.2 1 1994 3.0 1 1994 3.1 1 1994 3.2 1 1994 4.0 4 1994 4.1 2 1994 4.2 3 1994 5.0 13 1994 5.1 4 1994 5.2 3 1994 6.0 14 1994 6.1 9 1994 6.2 3 1994 7.0 20 1994 7.1 3 1994 8.0 21 1994 9.0 7 1994 10.0 1 1995 2.0 2 1995 2.1 1 1995 2.2 3 1995 3.0 2 1995 3.1 1 1995 3.2 1 1995 4.0 2 1995 4.1 3 1995 4.2 2 1995 5.0 16 1995 5.1 3 1995 5.2 5 1995 6.0 21 1995 6.1 3 1995 6.2 2 1995 7.0 38 1995 7.1 6 1995 7.2 2 1995 8.0 21 1995 8.2 1 1995 9.0 8 1995 10.0 1 1996 1.0 1 1996 2.0 2 1996 2.1 2 1996 3.0 4 1996 3.1 1 1996 3.2 4 1996 4.0 9 1996 4.1 2 1996 4.2 5 1996 5.0 11 1996 5.1 7 1996 5.2 5 1996 6.0 27 1996 6.1 4 1996 6.2 4 1996 7.0 31 1996 7.1 7 1996 8.0 25 1996 8.1 2 1996 8.2 1 1996 9.0 8 1997 0.0 1 1997 1.2 2 1997 2.0 3 1997 2.2 1 1997 3.0 3 1997 4.0 7 1997 4.1 3 1997 4.2 3 1997 5.0 22 1997 5.1 4 1997 5.2 2 1997 6.0 36 1997 6.1 6 1997 6.2 7 1997 7.0 28 1997 7.1 3 1997 7.2 2 1997 8.0 19 1997 8.2 3 1997 9.0 7 1998 1.2 1 1998 2.0 1 1998 2.2 1 1998 3.0 2 1998 3.1 2 1998 3.2 3 1998 4.0 7 1998 4.2 1 1998 5.0 17 1998 5.1 6 1998 5.2 2 1998 6.0 38 1998 6.1 5 1998 6.2 5 1998 7.0 37 1998 7.1 3 1998 7.2 2 1998 8.0 17 1998 8.1 2 1998 8.2 1 1998 9.0 9 1999 0.0 1 1999 0.1 1 1999 1.1 1 1999 1.2 2 1999 2.0 1 1999 2.2 5 1999 3.0 6 1999 3.1 1 1999 3.2 1 1999 4.0 5 1999 4.1 4 1999 4.2 3 1999 5.0 20 1999 5.1 7 1999 5.2 6 1999 6.0 34 1999 6.1 8 1999 6.2 3 1999 7.0 43 1999 7.1 4 1999 7.2 3 1999 8.0 6 1999 8.1 2 1999 8.2 1 1999 9.0 5 2000 0.0 1 2000 1.0 1 2000 1.1 1 2000 1.2 1 2000 2.0 2 2000 2.2 1 2000 3.0 6 2000 3.1 3 2000 4.0 5 2000 4.2 2 2000 5.0 18 2000 5.1 8 2000 5.2 6 2000 6.0 29 2000 6.1 3 2000 6.2 6 2000 7.0 42 2000 7.1 3 2000 7.2 7 2000 8.0 20 2000 8.1 2 2000 8.2 1 2000 9.0 8 2001 0.1 1 2001 1.0 1 2001 1.2 2 2001 2.0 2 2001 2.1 2 2001 2.2 4 2001 3.0 4 2001 3.1 2 2001 4.0 5 2001 4.1 4 2001 4.2 1 2001 5.0 12 2001 5.1 1 2001 5.2 3 2001 6.0 32 2001 6.1 8 2001 6.2 6 2001 7.0 48 2001 7.1 2 2001 7.2 2 2001 8.0 14 2001 9.0 6 2002 2.0 1 2002 2.1 1 2002 3.0 8 2002 3.1 3 2002 4.0 8 2002 4.1 1 2002 4.2 3 2002 5.0 32 2002 5.1 8 2002 5.2 3 2002 6.0 29 2002 6.1 3 2002 6.2 4 2002 7.0 30 2002 7.1 7 2002 7.2 3 2002 8.0 5 2002 8.1 3 2002 9.0 9 2003 1.0 2 2003 1.2 1 2003 2.0 2 2003 3.0 4 2003 3.1 3 2003 3.2 1 2003 4.0 10 2003 4.1 3 2003 4.2 5 2003 5.0 21 2003 5.1 4 2003 5.2 7 2003 6.0 50 2003 6.1 3 2003 6.2 6 2003 7.0 26 2003 7.1 4 2003 7.2 1 2003 8.0 4 2003 8.1 1 2003 9.0 3 2004 1.0 1 2004 1.2 1 2004 2.0 2 2004 2.1 1 2004 3.0 5 2004 3.2 2 2004 4.0 11 2004 4.1 4 2004 4.2 1 2004 5.0 23 2004 5.1 5 2004 5.2 7 2004 6.0 46 2004 6.1 8 2004 6.2 6 2004 7.0 29 2004 7.1 1 2004 7.2 3 2004 8.0 4 2004 9.0 2 2005 0.2 1 2005 1.1 1 2005 2.1 1 2005 3.1 1 2005 3.2 2 2005 4.0 4 2005 4.1 1 2005 4.2 4 2005 5.0 16 2005 5.1 5 2005 5.2 7 2005 6.0 42 2005 6.1 4 2005 6.2 5 2005 7.0 35 2005 7.1 4 2005 7.2 3 2005 8.0 19 2005 8.1 1 2005 9.0 6 2006 1.0 2 2006 1.1 1 2006 1.2 2 2006 2.2 3 2006 3.0 7 2006 3.1 2 2006 3.2 1 2006 4.0 7 2006 4.1 5 2006 4.2 4 2006 5.0 29 2006 5.1 8 2006 5.2 4 2006 6.0 44 2006 6.1 10 2006 6.2 2 2006 7.0 31 2006 7.1 1 2006 7.2 1 2006 8.0 4 2006 9.0 4 2007 2.2 1 2007 3.0 1 2007 4.2 1 2007 5.0 2 2007 5.1 1 2007 5.2 1 2007 6.0 5 2007 6.2 1 2007 7.0 6 2007 7.2 1 Opposing Pitchers year ip count(*) 1962 0.0 1 1962 0.1 2 1962 0.2 1 1962 1.0 1 1962 1.1 2 1962 1.2 4 1962 2.0 2 1962 2.1 2 1962 2.2 2 1962 3.0 4 1962 3.1 2 1962 3.2 1 1962 4.0 2 1962 4.1 1 1962 4.2 2 1962 5.0 3 1962 5.1 3 1962 5.2 2 1962 6.0 10 1962 6.1 6 1962 6.2 2 1962 7.0 16 1962 7.1 7 1962 7.2 3 1962 8.0 17 1962 8.1 4 1962 8.2 3 1962 9.0 53 1962 10.0 2 1962 10.1 1 1963 0.2 1 1963 1.1 4 1963 1.2 4 1963 2.1 3 1963 2.2 1 1963 3.0 5 1963 3.1 1 1963 3.2 3 1963 4.0 3 1963 4.2 2 1963 5.0 8 1963 5.1 3 1963 5.2 5 1963 6.0 12 1963 6.1 6 1963 6.2 1 1963 7.0 16 1963 7.1 3 1963 7.2 2 1963 8.0 13 1963 8.1 3 1963 8.2 5 1963 9.0 56 1963 10.0 2 1964 0.1 2 1964 1.0 4 1964 1.1 1 1964 1.2 1 1964 2.1 3 1964 2.2 2 1964 3.0 7 1964 3.2 1 1964 4.0 7 1964 4.1 2 1964 4.2 8 1964 5.0 6 1964 5.1 4 1964 5.2 1 1964 6.0 7 1964 6.1 6 1964 6.2 5 1964 7.0 10 1964 7.1 2 1964 7.2 4 1964 8.0 8 1964 8.1 3 1964 8.2 3 1964 9.0 62 1964 9.1 1 1964 10.0 2 1964 11.1 1 1965 0.1 3 1965 0.2 2 1965 1.1 4 1965 1.2 2 1965 2.0 3 1965 2.1 2 1965 2.2 1 1965 3.0 1 1965 3.1 2 1965 3.2 2 1965 4.0 5 1965 4.1 4 1965 4.2 3 1965 5.0 6 1965 5.1 3 1965 5.2 3 1965 6.0 13 1965 6.2 6 1965 7.0 13 1965 7.1 2 1965 7.2 3 1965 8.0 13 1965 8.1 3 1965 8.2 1 1965 9.0 60 1965 9.2 1 1965 10.1 1 1965 11.0 1 1965 15.0 1 1966 0.1 1 1966 0.2 2 1966 1.0 1 1966 1.1 2 1966 1.2 3 1966 2.0 5 1966 2.1 4 1966 2.2 3 1966 3.0 2 1966 3.1 3 1966 3.2 4 1966 4.0 3 1966 4.1 2 1966 4.2 4 1966 5.0 9 1966 5.1 2 1966 5.2 2 1966 6.0 16 1966 6.1 7 1966 6.2 7 1966 7.0 13 1966 7.1 4 1966 7.2 2 1966 8.0 11 1966 8.1 3 1966 8.2 2 1966 9.0 42 1966 9.2 1 1966 10.0 1 1967 0.2 1 1967 1.0 2 1967 1.1 3 1967 1.2 2 1967 2.0 1 1967 2.1 1 1967 2.2 2 1967 3.0 3 1967 3.2 3 1967 4.0 3 1967 4.1 7 1967 4.2 5 1967 5.0 5 1967 5.1 5 1967 5.2 1 1967 6.0 11 1967 6.1 2 1967 6.2 6 1967 7.0 14 1967 7.1 5 1967 7.2 4 1967 8.0 11 1967 8.1 6 1967 8.2 1 1967 9.0 54 1967 10.0 2 1967 10.2 1 1967 11.0 1 1968 0.0 2 1968 0.1 1 1968 1.0 1 1968 1.1 1 1968 2.0 2 1968 2.1 5 1968 2.2 2 1968 3.0 2 1968 3.1 1 1968 4.0 1 1968 4.1 4 1968 4.2 2 1968 5.0 12 1968 5.1 3 1968 5.2 3 1968 6.0 12 1968 6.1 5 1968 6.2 2 1968 7.0 18 1968 7.1 9 1968 7.2 3 1968 8.0 9 1968 8.1 5 1968 8.2 3 1968 9.0 50 1968 10.0 2 1968 11.0 3 1969 0.0 1 1969 0.1 3 1969 0.2 1 1969 1.0 1 1969 1.1 3 1969 1.2 2 1969 2.0 1 1969 2.1 3 1969 3.0 1 1969 3.1 3 1969 3.2 2 1969 4.0 3 1969 4.1 4 1969 4.2 2 1969 5.0 7 1969 5.1 3 1969 5.2 4 1969 6.0 13 1969 6.1 2 1969 6.2 7 1969 7.0 29 1969 7.1 6 1969 7.2 4 1969 8.0 19 1969 8.1 2 1969 8.2 3 1969 9.0 35 1969 10.0 3 1969 10.1 1 1969 11.0 1 1969 13.1 1 1970 0.1 1 1970 0.2 1 1970 1.1 2 1970 1.2 1 1970 2.0 5 1970 2.1 3 1970 2.2 2 1970 3.0 4 1970 3.1 2 1970 3.2 3 1970 4.0 2 1970 4.1 4 1970 4.2 5 1970 5.0 14 1970 5.1 5 1970 5.2 4 1970 6.0 23 1970 6.1 3 1970 6.2 6 1970 7.0 17 1970 7.1 5 1970 7.2 4 1970 8.0 7 1970 8.1 2 1970 9.0 32 1970 9.2 1 1970 10.0 3 1970 12.0 1 1971 0.0 3 1971 0.1 1 1971 1.0 1 1971 1.1 3 1971 1.2 1 1971 2.0 1 1971 2.1 1 1971 2.2 2 1971 3.0 2 1971 3.1 1 1971 3.2 4 1971 4.0 4 1971 4.1 1 1971 4.2 8 1971 5.0 11 1971 5.1 6 1971 5.2 4 1971 6.0 9 1971 6.1 5 1971 6.2 4 1971 7.0 17 1971 7.1 1 1971 7.2 2 1971 8.0 16 1971 8.1 4 1971 8.2 4 1971 9.0 43 1971 10.0 1 1971 10.2 1 1971 12.0 1 1972 0.1 1 1972 0.2 1 1972 1.1 1 1972 1.2 1 1972 2.0 3 1972 2.1 1 1972 2.2 3 1972 3.0 2 1972 3.1 1 1972 3.2 2 1972 4.0 5 1972 4.1 3 1972 4.2 1 1972 5.0 8 1972 5.1 6 1972 5.2 3 1972 6.0 17 1972 6.1 1 1972 6.2 3 1972 7.0 22 1972 7.1 6 1972 7.2 3 1972 8.0 12 1972 8.1 2 1972 8.2 3 1972 9.0 41 1972 9.1 1 1972 10.0 3 1973 0.0 1 1973 0.1 2 1973 0.2 2 1973 1.2 5 1973 2.0 3 1973 2.1 3 1973 2.2 4 1973 3.0 2 1973 3.1 3 1973 4.0 7 1973 4.1 1 1973 4.2 5 1973 5.0 13 1973 5.1 3 1973 5.2 3 1973 6.0 16 1973 6.1 7 1973 6.2 2 1973 7.0 25 1973 7.1 3 1973 7.2 4 1973 8.0 12 1973 8.1 3 1973 8.2 2 1973 9.0 38 1973 9.1 1 1973 10.0 1 1973 11.0 2 1974 0.2 1 1974 1.0 2 1974 1.2 3 1974 2.0 2 1974 2.1 2 1974 3.0 5 1974 3.1 1 1974 4.0 7 1974 4.1 2 1974 4.2 2 1974 5.0 8 1974 5.1 6 1974 5.2 4 1974 6.0 20 1974 6.1 6 1974 6.2 5 1974 7.0 19 1974 7.1 8 1974 8.0 17 1974 8.1 4 1974 8.2 3 1974 9.0 33 1974 10.0 1 1974 11.0 1 1975 0.0 1 1975 0.1 2 1975 0.2 2 1975 1.1 1 1975 1.2 4 1975 2.0 1 1975 2.2 3 1975 3.0 2 1975 3.1 1 1975 4.0 6 1975 4.1 3 1975 4.2 2 1975 5.0 11 1975 5.1 10 1975 5.2 4 1975 6.0 23 1975 6.1 7 1975 6.2 6 1975 7.0 19 1975 7.1 10 1975 7.2 2 1975 8.0 11 1975 8.1 1 1975 8.2 1 1975 9.0 28 1975 10.0 1 1976 0.1 1 1976 0.2 2 1976 1.0 1 1976 1.1 2 1976 1.2 3 1976 2.0 3 1976 2.1 1 1976 3.0 3 1976 3.1 3 1976 3.2 4 1976 4.0 7 1976 4.1 1 1976 4.2 2 1976 5.0 10 1976 5.1 1 1976 5.2 5 1976 6.0 23 1976 6.1 3 1976 6.2 4 1976 7.0 18 1976 7.1 3 1976 7.2 4 1976 8.0 14 1976 8.1 5 1976 9.0 36 1976 10.0 3 1977 0.1 1 1977 1.0 1 1977 1.1 1 1977 1.2 1 1977 2.0 1 1977 2.1 2 1977 2.2 4 1977 3.0 2 1977 3.1 2 1977 3.2 2 1977 4.0 7 1977 4.1 3 1977 4.2 3 1977 5.0 12 1977 5.1 4 1977 5.2 7 1977 6.0 13 1977 6.1 9 1977 6.2 10 1977 7.0 24 1977 7.1 4 1977 7.2 4 1977 8.0 10 1977 8.1 3 1977 9.0 31 1977 10.0 1 1978 0.1 1 1978 1.0 1 1978 1.1 1 1978 1.2 1 1978 2.0 1 1978 2.1 3 1978 2.2 1 1978 3.0 4 1978 3.1 6 1978 3.2 1 1978 4.0 6 1978 4.1 5 1978 4.2 1 1978 5.0 14 1978 5.1 3 1978 5.2 1 1978 6.0 10 1978 6.1 7 1978 6.2 6 1978 7.0 21 1978 7.1 5 1978 7.2 6 1978 8.0 22 1978 8.1 3 1978 8.2 2 1978 9.0 26 1978 9.1 1 1978 10.0 2 1978 11.0 1 1979 0.1 2 1979 0.2 2 1979 1.1 2 1979 2.0 1 1979 2.1 2 1979 2.2 2 1979 3.0 5 1979 3.1 3 1979 3.2 1 1979 4.0 7 1979 4.1 1 1979 4.2 2 1979 5.0 16 1979 5.1 5 1979 5.2 1 1979 6.0 15 1979 6.1 10 1979 6.2 8 1979 7.0 20 1979 7.1 5 1979 7.2 4 1979 8.0 13 1979 8.1 2 1979 8.2 1 1979 9.0 33 1980 0.1 1 1980 1.0 1 1980 1.1 2 1980 1.2 2 1980 2.0 1 1980 2.1 2 1980 3.0 2 1980 3.1 3 1980 4.0 4 1980 4.1 4 1980 4.2 4 1980 5.0 14 1980 5.1 3 1980 5.2 3 1980 6.0 22 1980 6.1 7 1980 6.2 5 1980 7.0 30 1980 7.1 3 1980 7.2 5 1980 8.0 16 1980 8.1 6 1980 8.2 2 1980 9.0 19 1980 10.0 1 1981 0.1 1 1981 1.2 1 1981 2.0 3 1981 2.1 1 1981 2.2 2 1981 3.0 1 1981 3.2 1 1981 4.0 1 1981 4.1 7 1981 4.2 2 1981 5.0 12 1981 5.1 4 1981 5.2 3 1981 6.0 10 1981 6.1 5 1981 6.2 2 1981 7.0 13 1981 7.1 2 1981 7.2 1 1981 8.0 12 1981 8.2 1 1981 9.0 20 1982 0.2 1 1982 1.2 3 1982 2.0 2 1982 2.1 1 1982 2.2 2 1982 3.0 3 1982 3.1 2 1982 3.2 1 1982 4.0 6 1982 4.1 2 1982 4.2 2 1982 5.0 15 1982 5.1 9 1982 5.2 3 1982 6.0 25 1982 6.1 5 1982 6.2 8 1982 7.0 22 1982 7.1 3 1982 7.2 2 1982 8.0 11 1982 8.1 2 1982 8.2 1 1982 9.0 30 1982 9.2 1 1983 0.2 1 1983 1.0 1 1983 1.1 3 1983 1.2 1 1983 2.0 1 1983 2.1 4 1983 2.2 1 1983 3.0 1 1983 3.2 3 1983 4.0 3 1983 4.1 5 1983 4.2 4 1983 5.0 7 1983 5.1 3 1983 5.2 4 1983 6.0 28 1983 6.1 6 1983 6.2 3 1983 7.0 23 1983 7.1 2 1983 7.2 6 1983 8.0 21 1983 8.1 5 1983 8.2 3 1983 9.0 23 1984 1.1 1 1984 2.0 1 1984 2.1 1 1984 2.2 3 1984 3.0 2 1984 3.1 5 1984 3.2 3 1984 4.0 6 1984 4.1 4 1984 4.2 3 1984 5.0 11 1984 5.1 13 1984 5.2 3 1984 6.0 21 1984 6.1 8 1984 6.2 6 1984 7.0 28 1984 7.1 4 1984 7.2 2 1984 8.0 18 1984 8.1 2 1984 8.2 1 1984 9.0 15 1984 9.1 1 1985 0.1 1 1985 0.2 2 1985 1.0 1 1985 1.1 2 1985 1.2 1 1985 2.0 1 1985 2.1 1 1985 2.2 1 1985 3.0 3 1985 3.1 5 1985 3.2 1 1985 4.0 8 1985 4.1 2 1985 4.2 4 1985 5.0 19 1985 5.1 6 1985 5.2 4 1985 6.0 22 1985 6.1 3 1985 6.2 6 1985 7.0 28 1985 7.1 5 1985 8.0 9 1985 8.1 1 1985 8.2 3 1985 9.0 20 1985 10.0 2 1985 11.0 1 1986 0.0 1 1986 1.0 2 1986 1.2 1 1986 2.1 4 1986 2.2 2 1986 3.0 7 1986 3.1 1 1986 3.2 5 1986 4.0 7 1986 4.1 4 1986 4.2 6 1986 5.0 30 1986 5.1 4 1986 5.2 1 1986 6.0 20 1986 6.1 6 1986 6.2 7 1986 7.0 29 1986 7.1 2 1986 7.2 3 1986 8.0 10 1986 8.1 3 1986 8.2 1 1986 9.0 18 1986 10.0 1 1987 0.1 1 1987 0.2 2 1987 1.0 3 1987 1.1 1 1987 1.2 3 1987 2.0 4 1987 2.1 2 1987 2.2 1 1987 3.0 4 1987 3.1 1 1987 3.2 6 1987 4.0 7 1987 4.2 8 1987 5.0 17 1987 5.1 7 1987 5.2 6 1987 6.0 29 1987 6.1 3 1987 6.2 7 1987 7.0 26 1987 7.1 1 1987 7.2 2 1987 8.0 7 1987 8.1 2 1987 8.2 1 1987 9.0 11 1988 0.1 1 1988 1.2 2 1988 2.0 4 1988 2.2 1 1988 3.0 1 1988 3.1 3 1988 4.0 6 1988 4.1 6 1988 4.2 1 1988 5.0 17 1988 5.1 3 1988 5.2 3 1988 6.0 31 1988 6.1 11 1988 6.2 7 1988 7.0 29 1988 7.1 2 1988 7.2 2 1988 8.0 9 1988 8.1 4 1988 8.2 8 1988 9.0 16 1989 0.2 1 1989 1.0 2 1989 1.1 2 1989 2.0 1 1989 2.1 4 1989 2.2 3 1989 3.0 5 1989 3.1 1 1989 3.2 4 1989 4.0 11 1989 4.1 2 1989 4.2 6 1989 5.0 25 1989 5.1 6 1989 5.2 5 1989 6.0 19 1989 6.1 3 1989 6.2 4 1989 7.0 18 1989 7.1 5 1989 7.2 3 1989 8.0 15 1989 8.1 1 1989 8.2 5 1989 9.0 11 1990 0.1 1 1990 1.1 1 1990 1.2 1 1990 2.0 2 1990 2.1 1 1990 2.2 1 1990 3.0 3 1990 3.1 1 1990 3.2 4 1990 4.0 11 1990 4.1 3 1990 4.2 4 1990 5.0 28 1990 5.1 9 1990 5.2 6 1990 6.0 20 1990 6.1 7 1990 6.2 3 1990 7.0 28 1990 7.1 4 1990 7.2 6 1990 8.0 9 1990 8.2 1 1990 9.0 8 1991 0.0 1 1991 0.1 1 1991 1.0 1 1991 1.1 1 1991 1.2 2 1991 2.1 3 1991 2.2 4 1991 3.0 5 1991 3.1 4 1991 3.2 2 1991 4.0 4 1991 4.1 3 1991 4.2 1 1991 5.0 20 1991 5.1 4 1991 6.0 27 1991 6.1 7 1991 6.2 9 1991 7.0 21 1991 7.1 4 1991 7.2 1 1991 8.0 13 1991 8.1 3 1991 8.2 1 1991 9.0 17 1992 1.1 1 1992 2.0 1 1992 2.2 2 1992 3.0 6 1992 3.1 1 1992 3.2 5 1992 4.0 8 1992 4.1 4 1992 4.2 1 1992 5.0 20 1992 5.1 3 1992 5.2 6 1992 6.0 24 1992 6.1 1 1992 6.2 5 1992 7.0 34 1992 7.1 6 1992 8.0 12 1992 8.1 2 1992 8.2 1 1992 9.0 19 1993 1.1 1 1993 1.2 1 1993 2.0 1 1993 3.0 3 1993 3.2 5 1993 4.0 4 1993 4.1 4 1993 4.2 1 1993 5.0 17 1993 5.1 4 1993 5.2 7 1993 6.0 28 1993 6.1 3 1993 6.2 3 1993 7.0 26 1993 7.1 4 1993 7.2 5 1993 8.0 18 1993 8.1 1 1993 8.2 3 1993 9.0 23 1994 1.0 1 1994 1.2 1 1994 2.0 1 1994 2.1 2 1994 2.2 2 1994 3.0 3 1994 3.1 1 1994 3.2 3 1994 4.0 6 1994 4.1 3 1994 4.2 4 1994 5.0 5 1994 5.1 3 1994 5.2 4 1994 6.0 11 1994 6.1 3 1994 6.2 6 1994 7.0 26 1994 7.1 6 1994 7.2 2 1994 8.0 12 1994 8.1 1 1994 8.2 1 1994 9.0 6 1995 0.1 1 1995 1.0 1 1995 1.2 1 1995 2.0 2 1995 2.1 2 1995 2.2 2 1995 3.0 2 1995 3.1 1 1995 4.0 8 1995 4.1 4 1995 4.2 3 1995 5.0 20 1995 5.1 6 1995 5.2 2 1995 6.0 23 1995 6.1 9 1995 6.2 2 1995 7.0 26 1995 7.1 5 1995 7.2 2 1995 8.0 8 1995 8.1 1 1995 9.0 13 1996 0.2 1 1996 2.0 4 1996 2.1 1 1996 2.2 1 1996 3.0 2 1996 3.1 1 1996 3.2 1 1996 4.0 7 1996 4.1 5 1996 4.2 3 1996 5.0 21 1996 5.1 8 1996 5.2 3 1996 6.0 27 1996 6.1 8 1996 6.2 8 1996 7.0 26 1996 7.1 5 1996 7.2 4 1996 8.0 12 1996 8.2 2 1996 9.0 12 1997 1.1 1 1997 2.0 2 1997 2.1 3 1997 2.2 2 1997 3.0 2 1997 3.1 1 1997 3.2 2 1997 4.0 5 1997 4.1 5 1997 4.2 1 1997 5.0 21 1997 5.1 10 1997 5.2 4 1997 6.0 24 1997 6.1 7 1997 6.2 6 1997 7.0 35 1997 7.1 7 1997 7.2 1 1997 8.0 14 1997 8.1 1 1997 8.2 1 1997 9.0 7 1998 0.0 1 1998 2.1 1 1998 3.0 2 1998 3.1 1 1998 3.2 1 1998 4.0 7 1998 4.1 3 1998 4.2 1 1998 5.0 22 1998 5.1 6 1998 5.2 9 1998 6.0 29 1998 6.1 11 1998 6.2 11 1998 7.0 30 1998 7.1 1 1998 8.0 18 1998 9.0 8 1999 1.1 1 1999 2.0 2 1999 2.2 5 1999 3.0 4 1999 3.1 2 1999 3.2 5 1999 4.0 6 1999 4.1 6 1999 4.2 6 1999 5.0 24 1999 5.1 5 1999 5.2 8 1999 6.0 28 1999 6.1 9 1999 6.2 5 1999 7.0 30 1999 7.1 8 1999 7.2 1 1999 8.0 13 1999 8.1 1 1999 8.2 2 1999 9.0 2 2000 0.2 1 2000 1.0 1 2000 1.1 1 2000 2.0 2 2000 2.1 1 2000 2.2 3 2000 3.0 5 2000 3.1 2 2000 3.2 5 2000 4.0 10 2000 4.1 3 2000 4.2 2 2000 5.0 22 2000 5.1 7 2000 5.2 6 2000 6.0 32 2000 6.1 7 2000 6.2 7 2000 7.0 34 2000 7.1 3 2000 7.2 3 2000 8.0 11 2000 8.2 1 2000 9.0 7 2001 0.0 2 2001 2.0 2 2001 2.2 1 2001 3.0 1 2001 3.1 3 2001 4.0 8 2001 4.1 3 2001 4.2 1 2001 5.0 16 2001 5.1 5 2001 5.2 13 2001 6.0 42 2001 6.1 8 2001 6.2 4 2001 7.0 31 2001 7.1 7 2001 7.2 1 2001 8.0 8 2001 8.2 1 2001 9.0 5 2002 0.2 1 2002 1.0 1 2002 2.0 3 2002 2.1 1 2002 3.0 3 2002 3.1 2 2002 3.2 3 2002 4.0 8 2002 4.1 5 2002 4.2 4 2002 5.0 17 2002 5.1 3 2002 5.2 4 2002 6.0 39 2002 6.1 10 2002 6.2 7 2002 7.0 31 2002 7.1 5 2002 7.2 1 2002 8.0 7 2002 8.1 1 2002 9.0 5 2003 1.1 1 2003 2.1 1 2003 2.2 1 2003 3.0 2 2003 3.1 2 2003 3.2 2 2003 4.0 2 2003 4.1 1 2003 4.2 3 2003 5.0 18 2003 5.1 5 2003 5.2 5 2003 6.0 44 2003 6.1 7 2003 6.2 6 2003 7.0 36 2003 7.1 4 2003 7.2 1 2003 8.0 13 2003 8.2 1 2003 9.0 6 2004 0.1 1 2004 1.0 1 2004 1.1 1 2004 2.1 3 2004 2.2 3 2004 3.0 3 2004 3.1 2 2004 3.2 1 2004 4.0 8 2004 4.1 3 2004 4.2 4 2004 5.0 22 2004 5.1 9 2004 5.2 7 2004 6.0 27 2004 6.1 4 2004 6.2 5 2004 7.0 40 2004 7.2 6 2004 8.0 6 2004 8.1 1 2004 8.2 1 2004 9.0 4 2005 1.1 1 2005 2.0 2 2005 3.0 5 2005 3.1 1 2005 3.2 3 2005 4.0 7 2005 4.1 5 2005 4.2 2 2005 5.0 11 2005 5.1 10 2005 5.2 5 2005 6.0 30 2005 6.1 7 2005 6.2 7 2005 7.0 42 2005 7.1 1 2005 7.2 3 2005 8.0 15 2005 8.1 1 2005 9.0 4 2006 1.0 1 2006 1.1 2 2006 1.2 2 2006 2.0 3 2006 2.2 1 2006 3.0 2 2006 3.1 3 2006 3.2 2 2006 4.0 14 2006 4.1 5 2006 4.2 3 2006 5.0 24 2006 5.1 6 2006 5.2 9 2006 6.0 40 2006 6.1 3 2006 6.2 2 2006 7.0 22 2006 7.1 2 2006 7.2 3 2006 8.0 16 2006 8.1 2 2006 9.0 5 2007 4.0 1 2007 4.2 1 2007 5.0 2 2007 5.1 2 2007 5.2 2 2007 6.0 6 2007 6.2 1 2007 7.0 4 2007 8.0 1

iramets Apr 28 2007 12:51 PM

I got carpal tunnel, scrolling.

iramets Apr 28 2007 01:09 PM

I'm trying to figure out how you quantify "prefers finesse pitchers to power pitchers." The Mets, according to my prejudices, have a classic finesse staff, giving most of their innings to the likes of Glavine, Trax, and Pedro, old guys who know what they're doing and don't overpower you with 95+ MPH stuff. But they have had an above-league average K total both of Willie's seasons, so obviously that's not a good measure by itself. Maybe BB totals? K/BB ratio? Am I just wrong in thinking of this as a finesse-oriented rotation?

Edgy DC Apr 28 2007 02:51 PM

Finesse pitchers can strike peoples out too.

iramets Apr 28 2007 04:00 PM

Yes, of course. But not so many as power pitchers. Or so I thought. So what separates the finesse guys from the power guys? How do tell them apart, other than just watching them?

iramets Apr 29 2007 04:03 AM

A quick and dirty scan of the 2006 data doesn't turn up a pronounced tendancy, by Yancy's suggested method, of confirming that Willlie likes to leave his starter in to finish innings: We had starters coming out of atfter an even inning (X.0, Y.0. etc.)128 times, the oppos had it 127 times.

iramets May 17 2007 05:13 AM

Having said my screed about Willie's moral fiber (for now) and having had it so well received, I thought I'd return to the more objective evaluation. Two things about pitchers: 1) what does "How Long Would He Stay with a Starting Pitcher Who Was Struggling?" mean? How long in a game, or how far into a season? I think it must mean the latter, because the question "Did He Stay with His Starters, or Go to the Bullpen Quickly?" seems to cover the first one. I think the answer to "How Far Into a Season Would He Stay with a Starting Pitcher Who Was Struggling?" has to be depend on the starter's contract, no? He gives Lima or Pelfrey a couple to a half dozen chances, then jerks the plug on him, but Glavine or other established veterans with LT contracts he's prepared to go down with the ship for, no? Likewise Benson--he had the big contract and he stayed in rotation when he struggled. I'm trying to think of starters other than Glavine who had big contracts and pitched suckily for protracted periods, and can't come up with too much. Pedro had a few bad outings in a row but not many last year and was hurt besides. Trax may be the best answer--seems to me that Willie soured on Trax as he came to the tail end of his contract--is this right? Would it be correct to say that length of contract and salary determines Willie's commitment to his starting pitchers more than any other factor? Can someone disprove this hypothesis? 2)I think (to judge from the responses he gives in his Guide to Managers book) that James considers high-K combined with high-BB staffs to be "power" staffs, composed of pitchers who tend not to put the ball in play a lot. I wonder if Veros McCracken's work would. distinguish power staffs from finesse staffs. Anyone familiar with mcCracken? Does this make sense--that a high-K, high-BB will not have a lot of balls in play?

iramets May 17 2007 05:45 AM

So far this season--slightly above league average in pitchers' k and pitchers' BBs. Last year, right at league average in BB/G, above-league in K (3.3 in a 3.3 NL in BB, 7.1 in 6.6 NL in K) 2005, just below league average in BB/G, just below league in K (3.0 in a 3.3 NL in BB, 6.2 in a 6.4 NL in K) So the trend, if this is a trend, is that Willie increasingly favors a staff that uses power pitchers. Presumably the longer he manages the less his staff is composed of "What was there when he got there" and more of "What he likes a staff to do."

iramets May 17 2007 07:31 AM

I've been thinking about the Billy Martin influence, since Martin is a role model for piss-poor relations with the press--lying to them, denying his lies, changing his story, accusing them of inventing quotes, taking swings at them, etc. . (Martin the dead manager, not Martin the poster, though they share the same level of disrespect for the media.) Willie grew up in a paranoiac locker-room, with Martin uniting his team with an us-against-reporters, us-against-the-umps mentality. Willie's contemptuous treatment of the press seems aligned with Martin, though his reluctance to get thrown out of games certainly differs from the Martin model. But this is subjective stuff, and I'm in the minority here, so maybe I should leave this as my own thoughts on Martin's influence on Willie's thinking and let others on The CPF figure out who was an influence on his style of managing.